Derby County Under-23s have recorded two victories scoring nine goals and conceding just one in the past five days and Darren Wassall has praised his side’s mentality.
The Academy Director admitted that Friday night’s Premier League Cup clash with Bristol City at the SGS College Campus would be a tough ask from his players. It needed them to be mentally sharp following an emphatic 5-0 victory over Arsenal just days before that took them to the top of the Premier League 2 Division 1 table.
With the standards within the academy set high, Wassall was not content with the 0-0 start his team showed to end the first-half, even if that did include calling experienced ‘keeper Frank Fielding into action multiple times.
However, a span of seven minutes in the second-half saw the young Rams go on a scoring spree, pouring in three goals to ensure their move to the second qualification spot in Group F behind Aston Villa at the midway point of the group stage.
Jacob Butterfield opened the floodgates by converting from the penalty spot, then towering defender Max Hunt headed in to double the lead before Kyle McAllister’s clinical finish pulled Derby too far out of reach
A fourth goal came via Juavan Splatt as he made his Under-23s debut to cap off the victory before Bristol scored a consolation goal from a spot kick in the final play of the match.
Wassall told dcfc.co.uk: “After the euphoria of Monday night, we knew this was going to be a tougher game because of that.
“The mentality was really important tonight. The players didn’t start the game how we asked them to, so we were a little bit disappointed at half time, even though it was 0-0, we thought we could approach the game a little bit better. All be it that Frank Fielding in the Bristol goal made a couple of really good saves in the first-half.
“Credit to the players in the second-half, they ramped it up and got four and it could have been a lot more. Overall I am very pleased with the week and we have just shown that we have got quality.”
It was an important win for the Rams, their first in the competition following a goalless draw at Plymouth and a 1-0 defeat to Aston Villa.
As well as vital cup points, it was a boost to keep the momentum in check for Wassall’s side, even with a squad that was largely changed from the last run out on Monday against Arsenal.
“We needed to win tonight after starting off a little slowly in this competition,” Wassall said.
“It was important to get the three points but also with a change in personnel it was important to keep up the good run of form and maintain our standards.
“We set our standards really high and we want to maintain that. When players come in to the team we expect them to continue the good work of everybody else.”
The players of the bench, Splatt and Archie Brown are second and first-year scholars respectively and both making their Under-23s debut.
The pair slotted in seamlessly and it was Brown’s saved shot that was parried by Fielding that landed to Splatt to head home.
“Juavan Splatt who joined us as an Under-18 this year as a second-year scholar, hasn’t scored yet in the 18s and he gets the final goal tonight, so we are delighted for him,” Wassall added.
“We needed to take some Under-18s and they have both been doing well so it was good to get them on the pitch. Archie Brown and Juavan Splatt did themselves proud. It again shows the strength and depth we have at the club.”